Students in a local chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America's service project has put Marcella's Kitchen in the running for a $25,000 award.

The FBLA chapter is affiliated with the Parents as Teachers in Christian Homes home schooling support group. Audrey Poston, advisor for the FBLA chapter, said the group submitted their service project to judging by the Lead to Feed program. The group collected $913 to submit 83 bowls to the recent Empty Bowls project. In the process, the group, parents and siblings hand-painted each bowl. After review, the PATCH FBLA chapter learned it was a finalist for the Lead to Feed top prize of $25,000. The second prize for 10 organizations is $5,000 while the third prize for 450 groups is $1,000. Lead to Feed is sponsored by the publication USA Today.

Victoria Poston, president of the chapter and Audrey Poston's daughter, said the group learned of the Lead to Feed program in November and decided to assist in an existing effort. The group set a goal of 50 bowls, and exceeded that level by 33. At $15 each, the sale of the bowls translated to $1,245 for Marcella's Kitchen. Marcella's Kitchen provides free lunches for any and all and is located at the Draffenville Lions Club.

Nicholas Morgan, vice president of the chapter, said FBLA videographer and reporter Emily Hendrix documented the project in a video available on YouTube.

“The fact that we got so many people to pitch in on the video. It gives the judges a good idea just what we did to make it happen,” Morgan said.

Hendrix said it was a team effort from the entire chapter and the PATCH organization.

“We want to win because it was high school students who raised the $916, and helped Empty Bowls raise a total of $25,000 in the two years its been held,” Victoria Poston said. “We want to help a community kitchen that has been open since 2011 and help them to secure a building, buy more food and possibly even open on Saturday.”